Cricket / Fifth test: Javed hails influential pace pair

JAVED MIANDAD last night vigorously defended the methods of Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis and hailed the pair as the finest bowlers in the world.

'England lost because of pace, not because of the swing,' asserted the Pakistan captain. 'The umpires looked at the ball all the time. One side goes rough because of the hardness of the pitch, and we keep the other side shiny. But Wasim and Waqar are the best bowlers in the world.'

'If Micky (Stewart) or anyone has anything to say about our bowlers they should come out and say it,' added the Pakistan team manager, Intikhab Alam. Graham Gooch, England's Man of the Series, conceded that his batsmen were simply unequal to the task of resisting Wasim and Waqar, a pair now destined for immortality alongside the likes of Lindwall and Miller, and Lillee and Thomson. 'They were too good for us.'